Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker hopes role will inspire young girls

Jodie Whittaker with her co-stars (from left to right) Tosin Cole, Bradley Walsh and Mandip Gill. She is the first female actor to play the Doctor.
Photograph: Sophie Mutevelian/PA

The new star of Doctor Who has said she hopes young girls will be inspired by the BBC’s decision to cast a woman in the title role for the first time in the show’s 55-year existence.

“There’s the chiselled superhero that we’re used to seeing and we’ve all grown up with,” said Jodie Whittaker in an interview with the Radio Times. “But Doctor Who has never been that, which is wonderful. It’s attainable in so many ways.

“And now it isn’t just attainable for half of the population. The other half can be the Doctor as well. Girls will no longer just think, ‘Oh, I could be a companion’. Being the first female Doctor and showing children that their heroes in shows don’t always look the same is a huge honour for me.”

Whittaker, 36, who previously starred in the ITV drama Broadchurch, will make her debut as the Doctor when the series returns in the autumn. The actor said she had been pleased with the reaction after it was announced she would be replacing Peter Capaldi.

She said fans understood that the sci-fi series would inevitably go in a different direction with her in the lead role.

“In a way, though, there is liberation in that new direction: the pressure is less for me because I can only do this my way. All the rules are out the window! That’s what makes it so fun.”

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Doctor Who, one of the BBC’s flagship shows, is under new management, with Chris Chibnall in charge of ensuring it remains relevant. Last year it was announced that Whittaker would be joined by three others for the next series, including an unexpected role for actor, comedian and gameshow host Bradley Walsh.

Details of the show, which is produced in Cardiff under great secrecy, remain scarce. On Sunday a teaser of the new series was trailed during the half-time break of the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup final between Croatia and France. The short clip featured Whittaker alongside her new friends.

“If you’ve never seen Doctor Who, or want to introduce your children or family and friends to it, this series is the perfect point to start,” Chibnall told Radio Times. “It was really important to me that there’s no barrier to entry. You don’t need to know about anything that’s come before. We’ve got a new Doctor, all-new characters, all-new monsters, all-new stories. It’s going to be exciting, emotional and the most enormous fun.”